What’s Happened to the Tambun Hot Springs

The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, Tambun, Ipoh


This is an example of what else to do with caves, ...yeah, it ain’t all need to be temples.

The Tambun Hot Springs, used to be a popular outing for the kids of Ipoh, and cost next to nothing to enter. Some big company gave it a grand makeover and it’s now a spanking 5-star resort that’ll burn a hole in your wallet, ...err make that 5 holes, at least, just to enter! But of course, it looks a world of a difference now, compared to the ramshackle tin shack of a changing room, ...I don’t actually remember, it was ages ago! Too bad, we didn’t bother taking photos then, heck I was a kid then, what do we know about taking photos!


Hot springs proper, getting ready for a boil


Car park, Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat


Blue’s the theme of the day


A view from the Steam Cave


Justin, on an exploration of the premises




More views of the retreat

Malaysia’s Hindu Cavern

Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Back to travel blog mode (...what the heck, it’s the easiest way out!)

Continuing on cave temples, Malaysia has its very own Hindu Cave Temple, Batu Caves, just outside Kuala Lumpur. These are natural limestone caves unlike the man-made wonders of Ajanta and Ellora. These are taken ages ago in 2007, way before our little terror came into being.


Anu, at the steps of the Batu Caves temple


The external shrine, Batu Caves


The Batu Caves temple, dedicated to Lord Murugan, is the focal point of the Tamil festival Thaipusam, where people pierce different parts of their body with spears and you name it to prove their devotion or to repay a debt to their god or for whatever reasons. Not for the fainthearted




Views of the cave interior, Batu Caves

Of Travel Blogs, and Other Things

It’s midnight now and I’m bloody sleepy, still at the office. Anu has some urgent matters to attend to in Pune, on the way now to pick me up. Pune’s 2 bloody hours away by car. We have only one measly key to the apartment, because she’s there all the time (except this one time), so there’s no need to keep a spare key... or so we thought.

My brains are fried, can’t properly work anymore. So here’s a go at blogging. Will regret what I blog tonight, I think, ...but what the heck! It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about anything, but our holidays. It’s turning into a bloody travel blog. Not that I have anything against travel blogs, but this is supposed to be a blog about my life. It’s supposed to be for me (or anyone for that matter, ...I’m thinking son, wife at least) to reminisce when I’m old and half-senile, and when I can’t recall half of what happened the hour before (hope it’ll never come to that).

One consolation I can give myself is that this blog is just about the only family blog left that’s still consistently updated. Don’t believe me? Check out the family links beside. I doubt anyone reads blogs now, but as I’ve said before, this is for the future’s sake.

Anyway, I’m shutting down now. Will try to partially sleep for a while (on the office desk) coz I don’t fancy behaving like a zombie in the office tomorrow. I’m not in my primes now, the bones ache when I sleep on one side too much, a tooth has cracked for no apparent reason, am getting crankier by the day, am shrinking ...I think (gotta really start working out again). Till another chance like this comes along, ta...

Caves of Enlightenment

The Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India

As promised in the post before, here’re some pictures of the Ellora and Ajanta caves, the highlight I will say, of any trip to Maharashtra. These caves are accessible from the city of Aurangabad, about 5 hours drive from where we stay in Daund. Ellora is only about 30km from Aurangabad. For Ajanta, it’s another 100 odd km from Aurangabad. These are all man-made caves carved out of the rocky mountainside to form temples and monasteries. In ancient times, what better way to prove your devotion than by carving monuments out of the hills?


The Ajanta caves are all Buddhist Caves constructed between 200 BC to the 7th Century, ...yeah, that long ago. They’re located in a horseshoe-shaped valley, hidden from view and long lost to the knowledge of people until rediscovered in the early 1800’s by the British.


An overall view of the Ajanta Caves from the top


The interior of one of the caves in Ajanta


Caves and sculptures didn’t really impress little Justin, as you can see - sound asleep


The centrepiece of the Ellora Caves, the Kailash Temple, a Hindu temple carved out of the rock in the 8th century. It features a massive central temple of more than 2 storeys high divided into two sections with an interconnecting bridge. This is surrounded by two storey abode-type structures chiseled out of the rock walls.








Views from different angles, Kailash Temple, Ellora


A three storey Buddhist monastery chiseled out of the rock about 1500 years ago, Ellora


The interior of a Buddhist cave in Ellora. The Ellora caves consist of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu Caves. They’re constructed between the 5th and the 10th century.


The interior of a Jain Cave, Ellora


A small waterfall near one of the Hindu caves, Ellora

The Western Ghats

The Western Ghats at dusk, from near Arthur’s Seat, Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra


Another view at dusk from Arthur’s Seat

Here’re more pictures of the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are a range of mountains running down the entire western side of India but they’re not true mountains. They’re actually a range of cliffs forming the edge of a plateau, the Deccan Plateau, where most of the middle part of southern India actually sits on, (and where the big cities of Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad are located). If you go from the coast (i.e. Mumbai or Goa) inland, towards Pune, you’ll have to go up these huge cliffs to reach the central part of India.

And that’s about all I’ll write this time, ...thanks to the bloody tiring and thankless job.


Somewhere near Lonavala, half way between Mumbai and Pune. This picture is from Lion Point if I’m not mistaken (or is it Tiger Point?!?)


A view of Lonavala, from ...Lion Point?


The Karla Caves, near Lonavala – the interior of this Buddhist cave is even more impressive, but since it’s similar to the ones in Ajanta and Ellora (which I am gonna post soon... yeah, really, no kidding, ...I think), I’ll leave these out for now.


The hill where the Karla Caves are located. In ancient times, there’s nothing much to do, but to carve temples out of the mountain side. Luckily for them, now there’s something worth seeing.


Anu, at the Karla Caves


The steps up to the Karla Caves, not really pleasant during the hot and dry time that we stopped by.


The start of the walk up to the Bhaja Caves. We gave up after looking at the height of the mountain behind.


Half way between Aurangabad and Dhule, near the northern boundary of Maharashtra. Technically, this is not the Western Ghats. It’ll be more like the Northern Ghats if there’s such a thing, as I think this is the northern edge of the Deccan Plateau. Taken during one of my site excursions.


Somewhere nearer to Mumbai, Matheran – this was one place that I’ve never been to personally. This picture was taken by Anu, Kim or Dad back in Jan 2007, on a day trip, right after I and Anu got together and when I had to make a trip back to Malaysia alone to extend my visa.

A Maharashtrian Hill Station

A view from Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, India

No time to put in an actual post, resorting to the use of pictures again. I’ll cherish the time that I can again write in peace, without the nonstop phone calls, the line of people waiting to see me and the guilty feeling of doing some personal thing on the already limited working time and tight work schedule. Sometimes I feel like just giving up and say to hell with the work! It ain’t gonna improve the quality of my life!

For the time being, until that situation improves, here’s something cool from nearby to keep the mind off bloody work.


Crumbling bandstand, near Bombay Point, Mahabaleshwar


Pony rides at Bombay Point - Amrita


Mahabaleshwar town


Strawberry seller, Mahabaleshwar


A mosque in Mahabaleshwar


The Western Ghats from Arthur’s Seat, near Mahabaleshwar

The Holy Emirate

A mosque in Sharjah, the UAE

Continuing on the UAE, here’re some clips from Sharjah, the emirate directly adjoining Dubai to the north. The cities of Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, another emirate to the north of Sharjah, have actually grown so much that they’re more or less joined together to form a huge extended city, so much so that you’ll not notice when you’ve cross the Sharjah border from Dubai.

The good thing about this is that you can have access to 2 international airports within 30 minutes drive of one another (yeah, Sharjah has its own international airport, and Air Arabia, the UAE’s equivalent to our Air Asia, has its base there).

Second, things are cheaper than Dubai, especially housing. Most people who work in Dubai, stay in Sharjah, or even further away, for that reason alone.

Third, this is where you can get all the second hand goods, like our trusty old TV, and the fridge and the useless piece of junk called the washing machine (well, you can’t be lucky all the time, right?)

The bad thing about Sharjah, is that, because it’s cheaper, the population has increased so much that it gets really congested in the rush hours, and traffic jams are a common thing. The industrial part of Sharjah, just outside the city, has a seedy feel. It’s piled high with junk, spare parts, abandoned cars (which is common in the UAE due to cars and fuel being dirt cheap, ...compared to Malaysia, or India that is), second hand goods, labour settlements, etc.

Sharjah also has a reputation of being a devout Muslim emirate, to the extent that liquor and even shisha (hookah smoking), one of the highlights of being in the UAE, are banned! Luckily, (for those of us who're not that pious), all these (fun) things are easily available just a little drive north, to Ajman, the adjoining tiny emirate. Maybe that's why Ajman is such a favourite with our colleagues, especially Indians. Now, as Ajman is completely surrounded by Sharjah, the trick is to drive across without ever being stopped by any officers in Sharjah territory. That’s the whole thrill!


The Corniche, Sharjah


An outing at the Corniche, Sharjah


At the Sharjah Fort, completely dwarfed by apartment blocks


Some artificially greened area in Sharjah, this is typical in the UAE